Intertwining Paths
by ScionoftheEnd
Summary: Two men meet each other in an unexpected twist of fate and begin their epic quest together.


First off guys, this is a dual-authorship, it is written in part by myself and in another part by lightningspawn

it's his first fanfic, and we are trying to keep to the rules of Dungeons and Dragons as much as possible, so please forgive us for any slip-ups

enjoy...

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Unexpected Interference

"Can you spare some change?" an old beggar asked a robed figure walking past. The figure stopped and looked at the old man. Messy hair and a ratty beard framed a weathered, deep-lined face. He was wearing old stained clothes that had rips and tears in them, and looked as if they had been pulled out of someone's trash. A dull look glazed his eyes and he had a cough.

The hood was up on the figure's robe, hiding his face from view. The black robe covered his whole body, hovering just a few inches off the ground. The sleeves extended past the figure's hands.

He reached into his pocket and held out his fist. The beggar weakly reached his hands out to accept the charity. The gold pieces clinked as they fell from the figure's hand into the beggar's.

"Get yourself some warm clothes, a good meal, and a bed," the robed figure spoke.

"Bless you. Bless you sir," the beggar coughed out, a rare smile adorning his weather-beaten face.

With that, the robed man walked around the small town until he made his way to a small shop. Magic items were crammed onto the shelves in the windows. This however, was not what would draw one's attention. No, that would be the colossal creature standing to the left on the doorway. Standing fifteen feet tall with a body made of iron, its broad arms and shoulders discouraged anybody willing to stand up to it. On the creature's back sat an enormous great sword and shield. The man tugged at the door, but found it was locked.

He turned and tilted his head up toward the creature and spoke, "Goliath, please give me the key." The iron creature extended his hand and dropped a small bronze key into the outstretched hand of the man. The man then inserted the key into the lock, turned it, and entered the building.

Inside the shop, tables and shelves were covered in magic items. Small gadgets of every size and build laid strewn over everything, some even were scattered about on the floor. There was a man standing in the back with his back facing the door. He turned around as he heard someone enter. Round glasses were perched on his nose, and a gray robe stained with sweat and other mixtures from his line of work was wrapped tightly round his body. A head of gray hair sat upon his skull, and a bushy beard and mustache covered his face.

"I've been waiting for you," he said. "Your iron golem has been a great help."

The black-robed figure pulled down his hood and spoke, "It was a very interesting item you told me to get this time. It should have all the information you need about your selected topic." He placed a book written in an ancient text upon the table. Light blue eyes set under a head of blond-brown hair watched as the shopkeeper scooped up the book.

"Good job, Ekaitz," the he spoke. A smile briefly lit up Ekaitz's features before he resumed the blank expression he normally wore. He pulled his hood back up as a package was dropped on the table in front of him. "Here are the materials that you asked for."

"Thank you Narune," Ekaitz said. He reached for the package, his hand sliding out of his sleeve slightly as he did so. On his right ring finger glinted a ring. Two lightning bolts striking a vortex were inscribed in a yellow jewel. Text in a secret language developed by an ancient order of spell casters wrapped around the jewel. It glowed brilliantly (almost unnaturally) when struck by the sunlight streaming through the dirtied windows. Ekaitz picked up the package and tucked it into his robe. "Do you have the other package Narune?" Ekaitz questioned.

Narune, who had turned around to examine the book, glanced back over his shoulder and motioned Ekaitz to follow. Narune moved a shelf and then touched the back wall. A door appeared, materializing straight out of the wall when his fingers brushed. He hitched up his hood and strode through the new opening. Ekaitz followed, sliding his arms back to their normal positions beneath within his robe. After they entered, the door disappeared and the shelf slid back.

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Footsteps echoed off of buildings as the man strode down the street. His pace was swift and precise. The black cloak he wore billowed about him as he walked, the silver streak running from left shoulder to the right bottom corner glinting in the sun. The hood was up, but this did not prevent him from glancing up at the sky, revealing a blank face set in iron and cold as a tundra. He bowed his head back down, cursing silently to himself as he did so. He hated the sun, he always had. He was a creature of the night. Normally he would stay indoors for the duration of the day, and emerge when silver rather than gold rays graced the earth.

However, today was an exception. He had received a job offer, one that paid too well to pass up. It seemed that a new magic item salesman had struck up a business in town. The problem was, there was already one in the town. His name was Narune, a kindly middle-aged man, beginning into the latter half of his life. He was still the best of his trade for miles round, despite his ever-growing age. Many people trusted him over the new man who had arrived. This new salesman, Jerard, was an impatient and arrogant fool who believed that he and only he should receive all the customers of the area. He wanted the old man out of the game. Permanently, if need be.

This is why he had called upon the man now walking toward said shop. The assassin.

He had woken early in the morning (something odd for him altogether) to find a note and details slipped under his door, asking him to slay or scare Narune out of business, then report to an address afterward to get paid. Apparently someone had discovered his identity. It really was not hard to do, for all intents and purposes. The man really never made any effort to cover up what he did for a living. The local guard and the politicians, however, would not touch him for several reasons. First, they knew that he could retaliate with more force than they could try to restrain him with. Two, they may actually have need of him at sometime. It would not have been he first time he had ever worked for a member of the government. The corrupt bastards.

He shook as his head as he realized he was nearing the part of town containing the store. His footsteps gradually died out until he was treading completely soundlessly. He passed by an old beggar. The filthy man was turned around as he walked by, and he did not turn around to beg for money because he was not aware that anyone was passing. That was the assassin's level of skill. He could become invisible in broad daylight, right out in the open.

Twisting through several back alleys, the shop suddenly loomed up before him. He gave it a thoughtful glance, and nearly stumbled out of surprise. What was _that_? Standing outside the front of the shop was an enormous creature, constructed of iron and looking very intimidating. _An iron golem? Someone tipped him off?_ Whatever the reason for the creature's appearance, the assassin was not about to back down. It was not that he had to complete this mission for revenge or anything. No, he held nothing against Narune. He needed to live as much as the next man though, and he had chosen the life of an assassin. For this reason, he had become cold and uncaring, performing any job as long as he judged it worth it.

He moved quickly, darting out from the alley, dodging behind the golem's line of sight, and sprinting to the side of the building, all without making the slightest sound. He had to move fast before he was seen or the golem noticed him. He braced his legs and leapt upward. He landed lightly upon a jutting fragment of iron on the creature's arm. He jumped again, making it all the way to the roof this time. A distance of fifteen meters, in two jumps. He crouched low and moved to the center of the roof, where a window leaked sunlight down into the dim shop.

He observed the place from the window above. He saw magical items of every description –jewels, staffs, rings, amulets, potions, even a few old swords- cluttered over the floor and the tables. What he didn't see, however, was Narune, or any customers. There was normally at least one civilian, aristocrat, or adventurer asking him for help on something. However, the store was surprisingly bare of movement. The assassin did not panic though. He merely crouched down and waited patiently by the window. He knew that Narune would show up eventually.

It took little more than five minutes for said man to appear. The assassin was still watching the interior closely when a section of the wall shifted slightly, before shimmering out of existence. From the hole emerged two men. The first was Narune. The second though, was a man the assassin had never seen before. Light blue eyes and dirty blond hair were the only visible parts of him, everything else was covered up by a black robe. He shook hands with Narune, exchanging a few words as he did so, before turning and exiting the shop. The golem moved as he did so, and the assassin deduced that it belonged to the man.

He waited a few minutes before sliding a knife under the wooden frame of the window and prying it open, he dropped to the floor below. A small cloud of dust flew up around him, the only indicator of his presence. This seemed to be enough for Narune, as the old man spun around as the assassin made contact with the floor.

He looked at the man crouching on the floor with a bitter smile stretching across his face. He spoke hoarsely, "So who is it this time then? I've had plenty of your type come after me before. I suppose it's that new lad in town?" The cloaked man remained silent as he stood. Narune motioned almost impatiently, "Well c'mon then, do your worse. I'll add you to list of failed attempts. Not coming? Fine then, I'll come to you." Narune took a step forward. He stopped however, when he saw the eyes of the man before him. They flashed silver, a rare color. Suddenly his courage fled and his knees buckled. "Y-you can't be. Who s-sent you?"

"You need not know," a quiet, cold voice whispered. From _behind_ him. He tried to turn, but found cold steel against his throat. It mocked him, daring him to complete the twist of his neck, to slit his own throat. Narune closed his eyes as he felt the muscles in the assassin's arm tighten. In a few seconds it would be slashed across his throat. The blade began to slide, drawing a fresh line of blood, when suddenly the door to the shop opened.

In strode the man from earlier, speaking as his did so, "Narune, I forgot to ask you about Yuga-" The words died abruptly in his throat and his legs stopped moving as his eyes soaked in the scene before him. He looked up at the assassin, anger blazing in his ice blue eyes, as he spoke in a deadly calm voice, "I advise you to liberate my friend before I have to force you." The man holding Narune remained silent. Upon seeing this, Ekaitz moved forward a threatening step. The assassin merely pressed the knife harder against Narune's throat. Ekaitz stopped moving, but his anger did not diminish. "Release him, now."

"I cannot," the emotionless voice answered him.

The man shrugged, tilting his head as he did so. "If that's the way you want it, then fine." He lifted his hand, pointing a finger at his opponent. From the end of it streaked a yellow flash of lightning, heading straight for the silver-eyed stranger. It lit up the shop as it went, casting strange shadows and half wraiths on the cluttered surfaces.

The assassin did not flinch. Rather, he twisted his whole body, dragging his victim with him, effectively dodging the magical attack. It blasted a small hole in the wall behind him, scorching the wood around it. He completed the spin, tossing the man in his hands to the ground roughly as he did so. He returned his cold gaze to Ekaitz. "If you truly want him that badly, have him." Narune scrambled to his hands and knees and stumbled over to Ekaitz.

Just as he reached him though, the assassin moved. It was faster than the eye could follow, which explains why Ekaitz could not stop it. A blade, one designed for throwing, appeared from nowhere into the assassin's hand. He flung his arm, and the knife lanced out across the room and embedding itself in Narune's chest (he had turned around when he reached Ekaitz). Blood began to pour from the wound as Narune collapsed, unconscious.

Ekaitz looked at the assailant with hate. With a flurry of gestures and a mumbling of words a thin green ray instantly blasted forth from his pointer finger. The assassin jumped back, narrowly escaping by the skin of his teeth. The emerald beam made contact with workbench in the back of the shop. The bench instantly was turned into dust, leaving only a small piece on each side five feet from the impact point intact.

The assassin calmly met Ekaitz's eyes, silver staring into blue. He spoke with a voice frigid as ice, "I have completed my job." Ekaitz began to stand, as if to stop him. "I recommend tending to your friend. My knife was not aimed at his vitals. He still draws breath. However, tell him that if he resumes his business, I will return, and this time my blade will not be so mercifully thrown." With that he tilted his head down and murmured a word. He vanished into thin air, leaving Ekaitz alone in the battered shop to tend to Narune.

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A/N: Well, thank you for reading the first chapter. We'd love it if you would review, tell us how we're doing, point out any grammatical errors.

Oh, and for anyone who might be wandering, lightningspawn wrote the first part and i wrote the second. i also edited the whole thing, so any mistakes are mine.

We welcome any constructive criticism you guys have, so fire away.

Once again, thanks for reading, and please please please review.


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